After Dark
by Snapdragon76
Summary: A short, sweet fic about a conversation. VM implied


Meryl sighed. She turned and looked out the window. It was a clear night and she could see stars over the rooftops. There was a slight breeze out so she had the window open a little. The curtains danced around the windowsill. Her eyes wandered across the room until they fell upon the form in the next bed. Millie's light hair fanned out on the pillow next to her. Meryl watched her friend's steady breathing under the covers.  
  
'Poor Millie,' she thought. 'She's been working so hard so she doesn't dwell on things.'  
  
She had to admire her though. Ever since Wolfwood's death, she's put on such a brave face. 'She's tried to hide her pain, but I could still see it.'  
  
Meryl threw her covers off. She didn't even need to look at the clock to know it was late. 'Well, there goes another sleepless night.'  
  
What was the matter with her? Why was she having such a hard time sleeping? She couldn't still be worried about Vash. After all, he came home safe with his brother in tow.  
  
'You do know what the problem is; you're just denying it like you always are!' Meryl silently cursed the little voice in her head.  
  
Part of the problem was that she still hadn't told him how she felt. 'What is the matter with me? I was able to stare down the barrel of a gun being held by a man who wanted to kill Vash, but I can't tell him my feelings?' She sighed again.  
  
She wiggled her feet into her slippers and threw on a light robe. 'As long as I'm up, I might as well go downstairs and fix me a nightcap.' She walked gently to the door and opened it slowly as not to wake Millie.  
  
Out in the hallway, she noticed there was a light on down the stairs and faint noises. She made her way slowly down the stairs, her guard up. The light and the noises were both coming from the kitchen. 'What in the world?'  
  
She stood in the entrance and stifled a small gasp of surprise.  
  
"Vash? What are you doing up?"  
  
He turned at the sink. "Oh, hello. I was just doing the dishes." He held one up as if to demonstrate. "I didn't mean to wake you."  
  
She relaxed a little, "Oh, you didn't. I was just having trouble sleeping and I came down to fix some warm milk."  
  
He nodded knowingly, "I've had a few of those myself."  
  
She grabbed a pot from the cabinet and moved to the refrigerator. "Sorry about the dishes. Neither Millie or myself had the chance to do them when we got home."  
  
He placed a plate under the faucet to rinse. "Don't worry about it. I kind of like doing them. It kind of makes me feel...I don't know, normal I guess."  
  
Meryl felt a pang of sadness in her heart as she set the pot on the burner. That's right, I keep forgetting. He's not exactly human. Not that that ever really bothered her. Anymore, she just saw Vash as Vash, not as a Plant.  
  
He nodded towards her, "What're doing?"  
  
She followed his gaze towards the pot with the milk in it. "Oh, this is just something my mother used to do whenever anyone of us couldn't sleep. She'd heat up some milk on the stove and we'd drink it and it generally did the trick."  
  
"Mind if I join you?"  
  
She was somewhat startled at his request, but in truth, she was pleased he asked her. She smiled at him, "No, of course not. I could always use the company."  
  
As Vash finished the dishes, Meryl stirred the milk ' "So it doesn't scald," mom would say.' She let her thoughts drift. 'This is kind of nice. Kind of domestic...' She caught herself. 'Stop that, Meryl. For one thing, he doesn't know how you feel and for another, you don't know how he feels. Stop these silly little girl fantasies.' As the milk heated to the proper temperature, Meryl removed the pot from the burner. She found herself staring at two empty mugs on the counter.  
  
"For the milk," Vash told her.  
  
"Oh yes, o-of course," she stammered, embarrassed at being caught by surprise. She carefully poured the milk as Vash dried his hands with the dishtowel. He picked up the mugs and nodded towards the kitchen table, "Let's sit down."  
  
She nodded in response and sat at the small table. He set one of the mugs in front of her and took the chair opposite. She had a good look at his aqua eyes. 'Pull yourself together, girl. Don't get yourself lost in those eyes.' She took a sip.  
  
"So, why don't you tell me a little about yourself? I don't really know all that much about you," Vash said, pulling back to reality.  
  
"Uh, what's to say? I mean, I grew up in December. Both my parents are still living. Mom's a housewife; Dad's a contractor. No siblings. Pretty basic stuff, really."  
  
Vash chuckled to himself. 'Right down to business, as always.' "How did you end of working for Bernardelli, if you don't mind my asking?"  
  
Meryl shook her head, "No, I don't mind. Basically it was my first job after college. I have a business degree and they were hiring and I sent in a resume and filled out an application and voila, next thing you know, I'm hired. I started at the bottom, but my supervisor saw I was hard working and moved me to Disaster Prevention. Millie came to work there not long after. She kind of took to me and we were partnered up. We had good job performance and therefore we were sent to look for you."  
  
Vash draped his arm over the back of the chair, casually. "Interesting," was all he said. 'Interesting? That's all? I hate it when he does that. He's harder to read than stereo instructions!' Meryl thought.  
  
"Can I ask you a question, Vash?"  
  
He sipped his milk carefully. "Sure."  
  
"What are you going to do now? I mean, now that Knives is still recovering and you don't have your gun anymore? I mean, there's still a price on your head and more bounty hunters will be after you?" She stared at the milk in her mug. A part of her was dreading the answer he might give.  
  
There was silence between them for a moment. "I honestly don't know, yet. Quite frankly, I'm not all that worried about it. Right now, I just want to make sure Knives is OK. I want to teach him about the good in humanity. That's one of the reason's I brought him back here. What better way to learn about the kindness humans have to offer than being in the company of you two girls."  
  
Meryl couldn't be sure, but she thought she saw a slight twinkle in his eye. "However, I can't say that danger is entirely behind me though. You should be careful, in the mean time."  
  
Meryl propped her elbow on the table and rested her chin on her hand. "I wouldn't worry too much. After all, I doubt Bernardelli would send us off with out us being able to defend ourselves in some way."  
  
Vash chuckled slightly and scratched his eyebrow absentmindedly. "I suppose you have a point there. And I've seen you in action, so I know you can defend yourselves," he said as he tugged on his earring subconsciously.  
  
Meryl smiled. Her eyes drifted to his hand lightly gripping the mug. His fingers were long and strong. A little rough, but gentle, much like Vash himself. The warm milk was beginning to take effect. She stood and held her hand out, "If you're finished, I'll rinse the mugs out before I turn in. Don't worry about washing them. They can wait until morning."  
  
Vash drained the last of the milk and handed her his mug. "Sounds good. I'm kind of beat myself."  
  
He stood and pushed the chair back in. He waited for Meryl to finish rinsing the mugs and escorted her up the stairs.  
  
"Well, good-night, Vash. I'll see you in the morning, then?" she asked as she stood at the door, hand hovering over the doorknob.  
  
In the dim light of the hallway, she could see him smile at her softly, "You bet. And thank you for the warm milk. It was nice."  
  
He turned and headed towards his room. She watched him quietly open the door and slip inside, careful not to wake his brother. She in turn did likewise. She sighed softly to herself. 'Things will be okay. I'll tell him how I feel soon, but right now, it's just nice being in his company.'  
  
A/N: I tried to fix some of the mistakes that I could see. If I missed any, my apologies. I tried to stay in character. Needless to say, this is my first fic using other characters.  
  
Also, the standard disclaimer applies. 


End file.
